Greek firefighters hold hoses during operations against a wildfire in the area of Porto Germeno, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Athens in the region of Viotia, on Aug 2, 2026. [Photo/Agencies]
As wildfires continue to burn across much of Europe, developments happening in Greece could help make future blazes easier to anticipate and manage.
Two firefighters died in a helicopter crash over the weekend as they struggled to contain a blaze to the west of the capital, Athens, but the Financial Times reports that a satellite system called the Hellenic Fire System, developed by the Greek government and the European Space Agency, has begun sending images back to Earth.
Firefighters are still learning how to use the four-satellite system, which is expected to become fully functional in September, but even early results are already making a difference.
"We've come up with a solution, but now the most difficult part is the adoption of that solution," said Dimitris Bliziotis, the Hellenic Space Center's Earth Observation program manager. "The fire brigade is used to the technology they were using before, so now we have to train them on how to process the new kinds of data."
